Page 94 of Finding Us

He kisses my cheek. “Don’t be scared. I’m right here. And if we’re going to live in California, you have to get used to swimming in the ocean.”

“Why? It’s not like we’ll be living on the ocean.”

“Our house is going to be on the ocean, Jade.”

“It is?” I smile because my dream home just got even better. “But I thought you wanted a pool?”

“We can have a pool and live on the ocean. They’re not mutually exclusive. We can get—”

“Shit!” I interrupt him as I notice a huge wave forming behind him. I hold on to him even tighter, preparing for us to drown, which I’m sure is what will happen when that waves slams into us.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

“Garret, look!”I nod back toward the giant wave, my arms gripping his neck so tight I’m practically strangling him.

He glances back at it then back at me, smiling. He’s not the least bit concerned. “Close your eyes and hold your breath.”

He holds me tighter as the wave descends over us, covering us in water. I feel our bodies being dragged to shore as Garret loses his footing. But he doesn’t drop me. As the wave recedes, he lets it pull us back a little, then his feet find the sand again and he stands up.

“See? Nothing to be scared of. I think you even liked it.” He kisses the ticklish part of my neck making me laugh.

“I guess it was okay.” I wipe the water from my eyes. “It was kind of fun the way it pushed us to shore like that. It’s like being on a ride or something.”

“Exactly. That’s why I like surfing. You should try it.”

“Garret, another one’s coming!” I point behind him, panicking again.

He doesn’t even look. “Yeah, there’s a lot of them out here. And they just keep coming. Weird, huh?”

“Not funny, Garret.” I watch as it gets closer.

Again, he doesn’t look. He can feel the force of it as it approaches us. “Get ready.”

The wave hits. It isn’t as strong as the last one, but it still carries us to shore again.

“Okay, that time it wasreallyfun,” I tell him as he tries to get his footing in the sand. “Can we do it again?”

He laughs. “Yes, but I might need to give my arms a rest after the next one. It’s kind of hard to hold on to you when the water’s forcing me down.”

“Oh, then go ahead and—” I see a huge wave coming. “Holy crap!”

Garret looks back at it. “Shit! Hold on.”

It hits us before we’re ready, knocking me out of his arms. I panic as I get disoriented under the water. I feel Garret’s arms around me just as I’m about to hit the shore. He lands underneath me, hugging me into him as the water recedes.

“Are you okay?” he asks, out of breath.

“Yeah, are you?”

“I think I got a little scraped up but it’s no big deal.”

I get off him and we move farther back on the shore. I go around and see trickles of blood on his back where the water dragged him along the sand.

“Garret, you’re bleeding! What should I do?”

“Relax. It’s just a little scrape.”

“Are you kidding? It’s ahugescrape. Why did you swim under me like that?”

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